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The Home Run Derby Was Great Theater Because of Phillies Fans
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Jordan Walker went on a crazy run to steal the Home Run Derby from Kyle Schwarber on Monday night. It was great theater and one hell of competition.
But some people didn’t like Phillies fans booing, for example:
Yeah? Well let’s get it straight for all of you jabronies out there.
Philadelphia fans wanted the Philadelphia players to win. Breaking news! They cheered for Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper and boooooooooed everybody else who went up to the plate, not out of contempt, but because they wanted to create an environment of support for their guys. Willson Contreras understood this immediately. He heard the boos walking through the archway and immediately smirked and cupped his hand to his ear while embracing the role of heel:
It’s not complicated. In fact, it’s a concept so basic that even imbecilic New Yorkers should be able to understand it. After all, weren’t they were the ones who booed Chase Utley at Yankee Stadium in 2008?
The Philly crowd created a brilliant environment at CBP for this event. They were living and dying with every swing. The Netflix broadcast team thought it was great, an injection of energy into an event that has probably waned over the years. The fans made the Derby feel like it meant something, with the veteran local guy going toe-to-toe with the young St. Louis Cardinal in the final round. And Walker went on a ridiculous tear inside of hostile territory to claim the trophy, which makes his performance that much better. It’s impossible to deny that this was a stellar environment all around.
These detractors seem to come from a position of, paraphrasing – “this is a celebration of baseball and its best players, you should cheer for everyone.” Okay, fine. It’s a reasonable stance. Maybe Junior Caminero should have received a bigger pop when he hit one almost 500 feet. But Phillies fans know ball. They’re not idiots. I guarantee that there is plenty of respect for those guys as baseball players, especially Walker after what he did, but that won’t necessarily convey the way these other fans want it to convey when there is a competition taking place on the field. At the end of the day, the home crowd wanted to see MLB’s home run leader, who happens to be the hometown guy, win the Derby on home turf. It would have been a sick moment to write into the history books – where were you when Kyle Schwarber won the Derby at Citizens Bank Park?
Alas, it was not to be. But we’ll probably remember the Derby itself because of how competitive it was, and how much juice there was. And the juice was provided by “the worst fans ever.”
P.S. – as far as booing the kids in the outfield, this was a piss-poor effort. He got booed because he gave up on the play:
They cheered the kids who caught the balls. If you don’t want to get booed, make the damn play. Lay out for that ball. And get your weight up.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com